Book Reviews

Mark Bowden, who wrote the excellent book, Black Hawk Down, took on the very challenging task of attempting to document one of the largest, deadliest and most controversial battles of the Vietnam War in Hue, 1968. This epic book includes 600 pages of dialogue, commentary and information (including glossary, notes and index). Bowden has introduced several new “voices” from the past, including American veterans of that battle and those who fought on the other side, VC and NVA soldiers, as well as many American journalists who covered the war and this historic battle. Over a period of five years, Mr. Bowden studied and researched, conducted countless interviews, and traveled twice to Vietnam. This was clearly a huge effort, but after a thorough reading of the book, I’m left wondering how this new bestseller could possibly be cursed with so many errors and omissions.Read more

The Lance Corporal Paul Cheatwood Story

I continue to re-read and study Mark Bowden’s new book about the Battle for Hue. I must confess that I have very strong, but also very contradictory feelings about this work. On one hand, I wish to thank Mr. Bowden for completing this book because that accomplishment, more than just about anything over the past several decades, has resulted in a significant increase in interest about that chapter in our history, and that interest seems to be coming from a wide range of individual perspectives. When I committed to read and review the book, I was determined to read every word, which goal I did accomplish. I also, as promised, wrote and released a book review which is now posted on my BLOG. My “re-read” was generated by self-interest; I wanted to see if Mr. Bowden had included all the actions of many of our heroes, those who fought on phase line green and the Dong Ba Tower. Fortunately, most of those actions are included, but I soon learned, to my dismay, that Bowden failed to include even one word about a Marine who was, in my mind but without a doubt, “The Hero” of the battle for the Citadel Fortress of Hue.Read more

Mark Bowden, a career journalist who rightfully achieved significant success after publication of his excellent book, Black Hawk Down, and the movie that followed, took on the very challenging task of documenting one of the largest, deadliest and most controversial battles of the Vietnam War in Hue, 1968. He succeeded in at least one sense. Within 600 pages of dialogue, commentary and information (including glossary, notes and index), he has introduced several new “voices” from the past, both American veterans of that battle and those who fought on the other side, VC and NVA soldiers, as well as many American journalists who covered the war and this historic battle. Over a period of five years, Mr. Bowden studied and researched, conducted countless interviews, and traveled twice to Vietnam. In that process, this work expanded into a book about the entire scope of the American “chapter” of the Vietnam War, using the Battle for Hue as its primary focus.Read more

I’m a big fan of Bing West’s work, having read several of his earlier books including The Village, which is about the Combined Action Marines during the Vietnam War, and The March Up, which covered the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force’s march from Kuwait to Baghdad in March of 2003. All of Mr. West’s books are well-written, thoroughly researched, and “good reads,” but this new book, I believe, will go down in American Military History as one of the most important books written about the “long wars” of the 21st Century in the Middle East.Read more